On the campaign trail last fall, Payne said he heard from most voters that they loved council repeatedly holding the line on taxes, “but they also said they wouldn’t mind paying a little extra if it’s put into roads.”

Payne proposes a dedicated one-per-cent road repair levy, a tax hike that would generate an extra $4 million in 2016 to begin a sustained boost to Windsor’s roadwork budget. By adding another one-per-cent hike in each of the successive four years, the measure would generate an additional $60 million over five years, with a subsequent sustained annual increase of $20 million towards roads spending, according to a preliminary calculation by the city’s finance department.

The recently approved 2015 budget allocated just over $14.6 million on road improvements this year, a figure that will increase to almost $27 million in 2018, based on the five-year capital spending plan voted on at the same time.

Annual municipal roads spending in Windsor is currently double what it was a dozen years ago, said city treasurer Onorio Colucci.

But to make up Windsor’s infrastructure deficit, Payne said his proposal for additional spending through a special road levy is also needed.

Each one-per-cent tax hike would translate into a $27 hike in the annual municipal tax bill of the average Windsor home assessed at $150,000. By year five, that home would be taxed an extra $135.

Because it’s a dedicated tax on capital spending, Payne said his proposed road levy wouldn’t be folded into overall operational spending and could be ended at any time in the future by council.

The fact his council colleagues approved his request for administration to study the proposal at its last meeting shows there’s broader support for the idea, said Payne. He’s hoping it will become part of the debate in the upcoming 20-year strategic planning session being organized by the mayor.

“There’s no doubt, there are a whole lot more roads in need of repair than we have dollars available,” he said. But Dilkens said “that’s always been the case,” and it’s no different here than in most other Canadian municipalities.

Pulling in extra dollars for road repairs and upgrades would “absolutely” be an improvement, he said, “but there is a consequence.”

That consequence is Windsorites being asked to pay higher tax bills, and Dilkens said his goal remains bringing in another zero-per-cent tax hike in next year’s budget.

Dilkens said there will be additional pressures on operating budgets with upcoming new contracts with city unions and with Windsor expecting to be asked soon for a substantial contribution towards a new billion-dollar hospital.

Dilkens said infrastructure will be at “the top of the list” in the upcoming strategic sessions, which he hopes to commence in March, and a new capital levy for roads can be part of the broader discussion on political priorities over the next 20 years.

“I’m very keen on having that discussion,” said Ward 8 Coun. Bill Marra. It was Marra, the most veteran member of the current council, who first broached the idea last year of a dedicated tax hike for “a very aggressive infrastructure” program.

Marra believes Windsorites would be amenable to such a move if “clear, measurable outcomes” can be shown on how those extra dollars translate into improved infrastructure.

And he’d like to take it a step further and have Windsor dedicate all of its fuel tax revenues into transit services, similar to the way it’s done in other Ontario municipalities. Marra said the recent election showed a broad appetite — particularly among newly elected councillors — for greater investment in “quality-of-life priorities” and in improving neighborhoods.

Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac said last fall’s election is also fresh in her memory: “Voters told me very clearly … no new taxes.”

Nevertheless, as with Dilkens, the self-described fiscal conservative said she was “not saying no outright” to Payne’s proposal.

“Yes, I understand our roads need attention, but we also have other things we need to take care of,” she said.

Gignac said Windsor’s infrastructure, to her, includes everything from trees to more than 200 municipally owned buildings.

“I’m very focused on a balanced approach,” she said.

City engineer Mario Sonego said $4 million a year in extra funding for roads could be absorbed “pretty easily.”

To mill and pave an average city block costs $100,000, while that cost shoots up to $500,000 if the road is so degraded it requires reconstruction. An extra $4 million would mean 40 extra blocks of repaving, or reconstruction of eight blocks that are in really bad shape.

“There’s only so much municipal funding for infrastructure — there needs to be senior government funding,” said Sonego.

This winter’s deep-freeze means the ground has frozen solid to a deeper level, which could result in even more damage to local roads during this spring’s normal thawing cycle.

The Ministry of Health needs to boost its funding to the local health unit which receives the lowest per capita funding in the province, Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac said this week.

“There’s no points for municipalities, we don’t get a shiny gold star for stepping in and providing the extra funding,” she said.

Windsor Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac.

Council can’t say no to a health unit funding request and has grown increasingly frustrated with the system where the local unit asks for more money each year because there’s a shortfall from the province, Gignac said. The city is paying more than its fair share. So during this week’s budget session, council unanimously agreed to Gignac’s motion to give $72,473 of $2.7 million as a grant because that was the increase over last year’s city funding.

Health unit CEO and associate medical officer of health Dr. Gary Kirk said kudos to council. “We’re right there with them and we are advocating from the province for additional moneys as well,” Kirk said.

Windsor-Essex is at the bottom of a 2012 list of per capita funding for health units from the province at $30.04, Kirk said. The high is Timiskaming at $81.97 and the mean is about $48. Neighbouring Chatham-Kent’s 2012 funding was at $51.43 per person.

Windsor-Essex is not being short-changed, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care spokesman David Jensen said this week.

“Because there are so many factors that go into determining funding levels for a public health unit, comparing the funding each public health unit receives purely on a per capita basis simply isn’t appropriate,” he said citing factors that ranged from geography to income levels.

Since 2003, the local health unit’s funding has gone up by $9.5 million, Jensen said.

Kirk said the disparities between health units continue to widen. He said the issue isn’t just about being the lowest funded but about health needs such as higher rates of diabetes.

The health unit was asking for $2.7 million, an increase of 2.8 per cent over last year, city treasurer Onorio Colucci said.

For a council trying to avoid a tax increase for a seventh time, the $72,473 was 25 per cent of the wiggle room council could grant and still avoid a tax increase.

Colucci said the grant is to send a message to the province that the funding gap is untenable and unfair.

“I’d like to know how we are the region that is so different that it deserves less than half of the funding of some other areas including some that are not that far from us,” he said.

Find Windsor Star on Facebook]]>http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/province-needs-to-boost-health-unit-funding-not-the-city-council-says/feed0Dr. Gary Kirk, associate medical officer of health and CEO Windsor Essex County Health Unit, speaks during the fluoridation debate at city hall in Windsor on Monday, January 28, 2013. (TYLER BROWNBRIDGE / The Windsor Star)winstarhillWindsor Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac.Henderson: New Windsor council is off to a lacklustre starthttp://blogs.windsorstar.com/opinion/henderson-new-windsor-council-is-off-to-a-lacklustre-start
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/opinion/henderson-new-windsor-council-is-off-to-a-lacklustre-start#commentsSat, 10 Jan 2015 12:00:58 +0000http://blogs.windsorstar.com/?p=424368]]>Windsor’s new council gave mediocrity a big warm hug this week in confirming, with eyes wide shut, that it has zero interest in finding out if there are more effective ways of doing business.

We don’t want to know what we don’t know. That disconcerting message came through loudly and clearly with council’s 7-3 vote to maintain the in-house status quo of Lakeview Park Marina and not even consider other management options for its “paradise in Windsor.”

All I can say is thank God this bunch (most of them) wasn’t around back in 2009 when the city decided to extract itself from the garbage collection, daycare and parking enforcement businesses and save taxpayers a bundle, because it would never have happened.

Jo-Anne Gignac, shrewdest and toughest player on this council, was still shaking her head a day later that only newcomers Rino Bortolin and Fred Francis shared her view that the city should at least see what management options are out there for the 34-year-old facility.

Who, with an ounce of business sense, wouldn’t want to know all the choices? Charitably, this blinders-on, out-of-the-gate pratfall could be a rookie mistake. Or it might be an ominous indication that business logic and common sense won’t be this council’s strong suits.

Spend an hour on the phone with Dave Brown, the charismatic marina guru of Sarnia, and you’ll soon realize just how short-sighted it was to slam the door on finding out whether the marina business can be taken to a higher level and transformed into a major community asset.

Brown, who has been in the marina business for 37 years, runs the Sarnia Bay Marina in a long-term partnership with the City of Sarnia, operates his own nearby Bridgeview Marina and manages two more across the St. Clair River in Port Huron, Mich.

A busy man who oozes confidence and warmth, Brown believes a marina is a heck of a lot more than a place to tie up boats. He believes, and has proven, that top-notch facilities and peerless customer service can transform a marina into a community entertainment/recreation magnet.

When he took over management of the Sarnia Bay Marina from the City of Sarnia, which inherited it from the province, it had been losing $200,000 to $225,000 annually.

He poured his own money into upgrades, including a pool, hired staff who lived and breathed customer service, dumped employees who wouldn’t make that commitment and made it an event-driven centre with endless barbecues and festivals.

In his view, it’s all about standards of excellence and a philosophy of “five-star service.” A deck attendant is more than that. He or she is an ambassador. It’s not enough for a washroom to be clean. It has to be spotless. Pristine.

“When they come to our front desk, we want them to feel they just won the lottery,” said Brown. And maybe they will. His marinas boast courtesy shuttle vans and a partnership with the nearby OLG Point Edward casino.

And the significant but unstated Sarnia Bay marina profits? “We go 50-50 with the city (Sarnia),” said Brown. “If there are losses, that’s my problem. But loss is not in my vocabulary.” He said he has no problem investing his own money on capital improvements that pay dividends down the road.

Brown, who has been lobbied by visiting Windsor boaters to bring his managerial skills here, checked out Lakeview Marina a few years ago. “It has huge potential in my view,” he said diplomatically.

He said the welcome mat is out for all Windsor councillors to come up, preferably in June or July, and he’ll happily show them how the Sarnia marinas are managed.

Or you could go online now and see the striking contrast between the colourful Sarnia marina websites, all fun and games and useful information, and the drab, outdated bureaucratic blurb for Lakeview Park Marina on the city’s site.

There were other options. A couple of years ago the Windsor Port Authority, which owns nearby Riverview Marina, held talks with the city about operating both facilities, given the obvious synergies, but couldn’t reach an agreement.

“We put together a couple of comprehensive plans and it just didn’t seem like it was going anywhere,” said David Cree, port authority president and CEO.

In Sarnia one enterprising management team operates four marinas in two countries. Here in Windsor we have two government-owned marinas a stone’s throw apart and for the foreseeable future, they’ll continue to do their own thing and ignore potential savings.

The last word goes to a mystified Gignac. “I think we were being presented with an opportunity to measure ourselves against best practices.”

Indeed. And if this is how council is going to perform over the next four years, ducking at the first faint sign of controversy, God help Windsor.

g_henderson61@yahoo.ca

]]>http://blogs.windsorstar.com/opinion/henderson-new-windsor-council-is-off-to-a-lacklustre-start/feed011-lake 10904.jpgwinstarhendersonHenderson: Eddie’s legacy is everywhere you lookhttp://blogs.windsorstar.com/opinion/henderson-eddies-legacy-is-everywhere-you-look
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/opinion/henderson-eddies-legacy-is-everywhere-you-look#commentsSat, 22 Nov 2014 12:00:34 +0000http://blogs.windsorstar.com/?p=405694]]>On a sunny afternoon in June of 1999 I strolled into a Forest Glade Tim Hortons to meet a young “phenom” who was generating buzz among my Star colleagues as someone with the right stuff.

“You should go check him out. He’s got something special,” they insisted. Fifteen years and five months on, with just eight days remaining in the Eddie Francis era, we all know how right my fellow ink-stained wretches were.

Amid all the farewell accolades, it’s easy to forget how close Windsor came to letting this rare talent, the city’s most successful postwar mayor, slip through the cracks.

A mere 315 votes. That was the Francis margin of victory in 1999 over Jo-Anne Gignac in an east-end (the old ward 5) byelection to replace Rick Limoges after he was elected a Liberal MP.

On paper, the race (more like a cavalry charge with 16 candidates) should have been a no-brainer. Here was a 25-year-old with zero political experience taking on a smart, seasoned former Catholic school board chairwoman with a well-organized campaign team and major establishment backing. It was hers for the taking, except it didn’t work out that way.

Looking back, I still marvel at the self-assurance that oozed from Francis and his kid brother campaign manager, Fred, as they door-knocked that spring afternoon. It took lots of brass, and more than a bit of cheek, to present yourself as the logical ward rep at such a tender age.

I wrote at the time that Francis was “25 going on 45” with years of rapidly expanding the family pita business having forged a level of maturity far beyond his years.

On the eve of that byelection I described him this way: “I’m more than impressed by the high-voltage smarts and boundless energy of Eddie Francis, a young business dynamo who’s tackling this contest with the same ferocious determination that made the family business one of Windsor’s great success stories.”

The uncanny thing, from my perspective, is that 15 years later those qualities remain front and centre as Francis heads for the exit. It must be heartbreaking for his foes, and he has his share, to see Francis leaving at the top of his game, without a single pratfall of any consequence. No feet of clay here.

He made one telling comment in that 1999 interview that heralded his transformation of city operations: “Some things that should be common sense, these aren’t the things we’re getting at city hall. How much could we save if we looked closely at the operations there?”

With city operations streamlined, the old boys’ management network long gone, dysfunctional services contracted out and property taxes frozen year after year, Francis answered his own question.

My question, the thing I’ll always wonder about, is just how much more successful Francis might have been if fate had been kinder and he had presided over a booming city instead of one continually buffeted by economic headwinds beyond his control.

He had the misfortune of serving as mayor during the worst global meltdown since the Great Depression. He was mayor while GM and Chrysler were tumbling into bankruptcy, while the Big Three were closing plants in Canada and shifting operations to low-wage Mexico and right-to-work southern states.

We were damn lucky to have a Francis at the helm during those stormy years. Relentlessly optimistic, he raised community spirits in the darkest of times and fought to diversify this former automotive capital and enhance its amenities.

I’m sure there were times when he wanted to chuck it all, hand over the keys and move on to something a lot more fun — like being Hazel McCallion and beating off Mississauga developers — than lying awake nights wondering whether your biggest employer is doomed.

Francis could qualify for dental school based on the 11 years he has spent pulling teeth. Nothing comes easily in Windsor. Francis has endured knock-down fights on almost every issue, from the marathon parkway file to the Capitol Theatre tug-of-war, from the Grace Hospital demolition to lingering resentment over the WFCU Centre.

Francis will soon be gone, but his legacy, large and small, is everywhere we turn.

I see it in the greening of former eyesores on Dougall and Howard near the E.C. Row. I see it in the cleaned-up Grace site, in the long-gone Docherty hole, in the mercifully dispatched Cleary lookout, in the state-of-the-art riverfront stage replacing the decrepit “onion” and in existing and planned downtown college and university campuses.

Most of all, I see the legacy in a Herb Gray Parkway that’s the direct offspring of Francis’s unflappable determination and shrewd strategic thinking

Some day, maybe not so far off, we’ll come to realize how fortunate we were as a community to have the best years of a true winner.
g_henderson61@yahoo.ca

]]>http://blogs.windsorstar.com/opinion/henderson-eddies-legacy-is-everywhere-you-look/feed0Eddie Francis was still in his 20s when he met with the Windsor Star editorial board in 2003 to talk about his run for mayor. He would serve 11 years as the city's CEO. (Nick Brancaccio / Windsor Star files)winstarhendersonReplay: Grace Macaluso Chats With Windsor Ward 6 Councillor Jo-Anne Gignac At Caboto Clubhttp://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/replay-grace-macaluso-chats-with-windsor-ward-6-councillor-jo-anne-gignac-at-caboto-club
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/replay-grace-macaluso-chats-with-windsor-ward-6-councillor-jo-anne-gignac-at-caboto-club#commentsTue, 28 Oct 2014 21:10:36 +0000http://blogs.windsorstar.com/?p=397669]]>

Grace Macaluso chats with Jo-Anne Gignac at the Caboto Club on election night.

Find Windsor Star on Facebook]]>http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/replay-grace-macaluso-chats-with-windsor-ward-6-councillor-jo-anne-gignac-at-caboto-club/feed0Grace Macaluso chats with Jo-Anne Gignac at the Caboto Club on election night.winstarmacalusoGrace Macaluso chats with Jo-Anne Gignac at the Caboto Club on election night.Francis endorses Dilkens as successor for Windsor mayorhttp://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/francis-endorses-dilkens-as-successor-for-windsor-mayor
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/francis-endorses-dilkens-as-successor-for-windsor-mayor#commentsWed, 15 Oct 2014 00:32:03 +0000http://blogs.windsorstar.com/?p=392859]]>It wasn’t much of a surprise on Tuesday when Eddie Francis confirmed who he wants to be Windsor’s next mayor: Drew Dilkens.

“He’s been part of the team for the last eight years,” said Francis, explaining his endorsement. “He’s worked hard with us to turn the city around.”

“My support for Drew is based on … his desire to continue. To stay the course. And I think that we need to stay the course.”

Francis — who has been Windsor’s mayor since 2003 — said he waited until now to make his endorsement official because he wanted to “allow things to develop to get to know the candidates, what they’re offering.”

Of the other two leading candidates in the race — Larry Horwitz and John Millson — Francis said he feels the debate at the Caboto Club “really exposed a weakness in Larry’s campaign — that he doesn’t have the plan or platform yet, at the mayoral level.”

Francis said Millson is “a very nice guy,” but he’s concerned that Millson’s campaign is focused on “unraveling” past council decisions and “has yet to provide a detailed plan.”

“I’ve heard that they don’t like what we’ve done for the city. But I haven’t heard what they’re going to do for the city,” the mayor said.

Drew Dilkens and Eddie Francis shake hands in 2006, at the start of Francis’ second term as Windsor mayor. (Jason Kryk / The Windsor Star)

In recent months, Francis has spoken out to contradict and criticize public statements by Horwitz and Millson, saying that he’s obligated to defend the city’s record.

Many city hall watchers assumed Francis was already backing Dilkens due to the presence of Francis supporters on Dilkens’ team — Dilkens’ campaign manager is Abe Taqtaq, a close friend of the Francis family and past manager of Eddie’s campaigns.

Fred Francis, Eddie’s youngest brother, is seeking to succeed Dilkens in the role of Ward 1 councillor and has appeared with Dilkens at public events.

Speaking on Trail Talk in The Star News Cafe, Eddie said he believes Dilkens is the best choice to continue the work that needs to be done in diversifying Windsor’s economy, attracting more jobs, making the city the most affordable place to live in Ontario, and developing our amenities.

“I don’t want to see us take a step back,” Francis said — a dig at the Millson campaign.

Francis also named some of the candidates he is endorsing to become city councillors: Incumbent Jo-Anne Gignac in Ward 6, incumbent Ed Sleiman in Ward 5, and his brother Fred in Ward 1.

Francis described Gignac as “a steady hand at the wheel” and praised Sleiman as “a very hard-working councillor” who doesn’t seek the spotlight.

“(Sleiman) has been very effective for his constituents. When people (were) flooded in his ward, he’d take his own pickup truck and take the stuff to the dump … Every council needs an Ed Sleiman, because his heart is in the right place.”

Regarding his younger brother in Ward 1, Eddie said his endorsement isn’t just due to Fred being family. “He has come out with real ideas and real plans. Other candidates have come out with postcards … He’s young, he brings a new energy, a new perspective — and I think he’s prepared to do the job.”

Francis said he’ll be discussing more of his council picks later this week.

“All I’m doing is providing my support. People have to decide for themselves who they’re going to vote for … I just want people to be the best informed, the most informed they can be.”

Unfortunately, the election of only Windsor’s second woman mayor was never in the cards because Gignac, who is just as shrewd and observant as she is feisty, knows all too well the thankless slogging the city’s top job entails.

“That’s absolutely not something I wanted to be. I was chair of the (Catholic) school board and being head of something like that, I know what that involves,” said the 11-year Ward 6 representative with a frown.

The consolation prize is that Gignac, who was ready to bolt this fall, was talked into seeking a fourth term by family and friends who recognized her departure would create a gaping hole in the next council and could leave her with profound regrets.

You can understand why she considered leaving. The last year has been hell. Her younger brother, Ron St. Louis, her best friend and campaign manager, died in late December, age 61, of the H1N1 virus. Her son, Pat, had his life on the line in Afghanistan where he was one of the last Canadians out when our military mission ended in March. There were other personal tribulations.

Yet Gignac, direct descendant of one of the Windsor area’s original settler families, rugged, self-reliant folks who came over from France in the early 1700s to carve farms out of the primeval wilderness, soldiered on, grim-faced but never missing a council beat.

Having joined council in 2003 when Francis became mayor, Gignac had long considered it fitting to leave when he did. Go out on a high note. Mission accomplished.
But friends and supporters, and especially son Pat and daughter Kate, a teacher in Britain, insisted this was the wrong time to pack it in. Wrong for her. For Windsor, for the Riverside community where she has lived all her life and which developed, in part, on land plowed by her ancestors.

Gignac sees this as a hugely important election, one that will determine whether Windsor continues on its fiscally responsible path or switches back to the free-spending, tax-happy habits that got this city in so much trouble.

“There’s not a question in my mind that we could go backwards. We all want to be loved. We all have credit cards in our wallets and we know how easy that is,” said Gignac. She’s running, in no small part, because of fear that the legacy could be undone by those who put making everyone happy (especially the special interests) ahead of balancing the books.

“I’m definitely a fiscal conservative. That’s how I was brought up,” said Gignac. “My grandfather told me ‘you can’t be charitable if you don’t have change in your pocket.’ You can’t spend money you don’t have.”

She shuddered recalling the mess inherited in 2003. Soaring debt. Drained reserves. The MFP scandal. The Canderal fiasco. Senior governments trying to ram an at-grade international expressway through the city.

There were trying times, especially the 101-day CUPE strike in 2009 and the painful decision to close city daycares for the pragmatic reason that more children could be accommodated by the private sector.

“Daycare? That was hard. But if you’re not prepared to make hard decisions in terms of how you operate a government, things can get out of control quickly.”

Gignac is now facing campaign allegations that her Riverside ward is being gutted because she failed to get council to rescue the decrepit Riverside high school pool — surely the jurisdiction of trustees and the province — and instead supported a new pool at the WFCU Centre.

“I didn’t see the city taking over a pool built in the 1960s and deemed unsafe by the school board,” said Gignac. She could have pandered. Played cheap ward politics. She chose to look at facts and see the bigger picture, that it was beneficial for the entire east side to have a new pool.

She’s also being harassed by what she describes as utterly false claims that the city is trying to force Riverside minor baseball to move.

Gignac is enthusiastically backing Drew Dilkens in his mayoral bid. “I’ve watched how Drew operates and we have very similar voting patterns. He’s solid and if he’s the next mayor, I’m going to be there for him.”

With a minimum of four newbies joining the next council, creating a potential dimwit circus, Gignac’s razor mind and go-for-the-jugular decisiveness would be invaluable.
She could be out kayaking or travelling to remote corners of the world, two of her favourite pursuits. Instead she’s offering her common sense to Windsor for four more years.

I think it is imperative that I respond to these two letters in The Windsor Star.

The letter from Tom Denonville is without merit. I will reiterate: The Corporation Of the City of Windsor Policy No: CS.A10.07, Jan. 6, 2014, Ward Fund Policy, states the following: “5.9. Use of ward funds for a project must not be committed, and the project must not be publicly announced, in the six-month period immediately prior to a municipal election.”

I don’t know what part of this statement Mark Winterton, Jo-Anne Gignac or Mr. Denonville doesn’t understand. The letter to the residents on Homedale Boulevard was brought to my attention by a concerned citizen who found it highly unethical and inappropriate, as every citizen should. This is neither a smear nor false rumour or a matter of trust as alleged by Mr. Denonville. It is fact.

As for Ron Price, to couch this inappropriate letter from The Corporation of The City of Windsor Public Works operations as “transparency” is delusional at best and insults the intelligence of the good citizens of Windsor.
Call it for what it is, Mr. Price; good old-fashioned pork-barrelling.

Ten City of Windsor councillors were allotted $1 million each from the 2013 budget to use for road rehabilitation in their wards.

Citizens were told to contact their ward councillors about problematic roads. The 10 councillors then brought certain projects back to the city engineers to make sure they could be done and done at the $1 million allotted.

Not one of the councillors claimed the money was coming from their pockets, including Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac.

It was public knowledge that all of these road projects were being paid for through the 2013 capital budget.

If John S. Holmes really cared and wanted to win in Ward 6, he would be telling voters what his plan was for now and in the future to keep Windsor moving forward.

Instead, Mr. Holmes chooses to spread false rumours in order to get ahead.

Now caught smearing someone before an election, how would you ever be able to trust John S. Holmes if he was elected?

Lest you assume that Windsor’s council selection in the October election is in some way non-partisan, think again. Politics and political parties are always jockeying beneath the surface. Like sewer rats, political party connivers and wheelers and dealers are oozing their respective ways through the underworld of municipal politics seeking your vote.

The NDP is basking in its recent regional provincial election success, even though it gained no seats

Lloyd Brown-John

and lost its leverage capacity in Ontario’s legislature. However, the NDP did unseat a very good cabinet minister in Teresa Piruzza, so now one suspects the scent of political blood, federally and provincially, in the Greater Windsor region has them aiming for a trifecta, which would include the mayor and council.

The Liberals, apparently not wildly concerned about who they jump in bed with, are willing to back anybody willing to upset the legacy of Eddie Francis and his remarkable years as mayor.

The local Liberal establishment, including Dwight Duncan’s former entourage and David Gene (a McGinty insider) want an old guy for mayor and a few pliable friends on council.There is also a local Tea Party type collection of social peripherals seeking council seats.

So, consider the following council possibilities as suggestions for 2015 and beyond:

In Ward 1, two of the six candidates warrant consideration. Dan Ableser is a bright young chap with a background in law and familiarity with some aspects of city administration. (I disclose here and now that Dan was a very competent intern with me during his final undergraduate year at the University of Windsor.)

The other attractive candidate is Fred Francis, brother to Eddie Francis, but one with a very independent and capable track record in the retail auto sales field.

Ward 2 is probably the easiest choice as John Elliott came very close to defeating retiring Coun. Ron Jones in the last election. Elliott has a very fine reputation as a youth social worker and his presence on council would bring forward a consistent awareness of the needs of younger people.

The choice in Ward 3 is fairly straightforward. Caroline Postma served on council a few years ago and was both diligent and dedicated to those she represented. After her first election, and on her own initiative, she met with me to discuss municipal finances, including how to interpret a budget, council procedure and the politics of intra-council member relations. She will not be a complete replacement for Fulvio Valentinis, but methinks she will work hard.

Ward 4 and I will miss Al Halberstadt. Remy Boulbol would be my suggestion because she has done a considerable amount of work in the field of religious tolerance and she has demonstrated a capacity to get railroads to clean up their act. The other attractive candidate is Adriano Ciotoli as he’s my type of candidate. He enjoys fine food and works hard on culinary tourism.

Ward 5 should be no contest for incumbent Ed Sleiman, who is one of the nicest people on Windsor council. He is quiet, not a headline grabber, but works hard and deserves re-election.

Ward 6 has another super incumbent member of council, Jo-Anne Gignac. She is a devoted fan of her own ward and of the city and its heritage. And, despite a recent bit of nastiness from another candidate in Ward 6, Gignac stands head and shoulders above her competitors.

Ward 7 probably is headed for an upset. Incumbent Irek Kusmierczyk, since his byelection victory, has had a tendency to view the city as somewhat peripheral to a very narrow view of his role representing the ward. Best bet to take this ward is Angelo Marignani, a successful businessperson with overseas experience having worked and lived in Japan. He would be a great asset on council.

Ward 8 is Bill Marra’s territory. He should be re-elected with no difficulty but one hopes he can rise above the bitterness or frustration which garnered him considerable recent public criticism over his nasty remarks about outgoing Mayor Eddie Francis. A new city mayor does not need a petulant Bill Marra.

In Ward 9 Hilary Payne should retain his incumbency. He is a real asset on council because he knows the ropes and is a very astute observer of the administration.

Ward 10 should dump Al Maghneih, who is pouring a good deal of money into his campaign in pursuit of self-vindication. There are at least two better alternatives to Big Spender Al, including Jim Morrison, a guy familiar with finances as a bank manager. The other very plausible candidate is Paul Borrelli. He’s a retired teacher and entrepreneur.

Almost everybody who seeks a seat on a prestigious body such as Windsor’s municipal council has an agenda. They wouldn’t be running if they didn’t. The trick is to look for those candidates without the hidden political agenda and specifically without the political party shadow ties.